Flood leaves Huntley animal shelter with tens of thousands of dollars in damage

HUNTLEY, Ill. (WLS) -- A burst pipe is leaving a Huntley animal shelter with tens of thousands of dollars in damages.

They are now leaning on the community for help.

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"It was like an ocean. Like, we couldn't even open the adoption room door, because it was so much water," said Animal House Shelter Director Angie Mouroukas.

There was so much water that fell after a frozen pipe burst at the Animal House Shelter in that when staff pushed the water out, the parking lot was like an ice rink.

"We were pushing all the food out the front door, but the sprinkler system drains out back, so then out back was also it was like flooding out both ends," Mouroukas said.

The good thing is there were no animals in the room when the flooding started, but it has left an immense amount of damage.

"There's insulation that fell down, and we have to pretty much solve the problem of why this is happening, because it's so cold that the pipes are freezing, and we have to solve the problem of where we go from there," Mouroukas said.

One room at the shelter is used as an adoption room, but these repairs are going to cost upwards of $40,000 to $50,000. Fortunately, the community has stepped up to help out.

"This is Rugar. His shelter name was Elphaha," said Jennifer Cavka.

Cavka's adoption of little Rugar comes at the perfect time.

"They have found homes for so many animals," Cavka said. "They're not ending up in kill shelters, so their lives are truly being saved."

The no-kill shelter has received an outpour of community support from those adopting, bringing bags of pet-safe salt to melt away any ice created from the flooding and bedding for the animals.

"Bedding is huge, just because right now, we don't have, we were down one washing machine, which is huge, and then when it says cold on top of the flooding yesterday, it's just one thing after the other," Mouroukas said.

They are hoping a burst pipe will be a distant memory when they open the brand-new building next door in the summer. But in the meantime, they have work to do and furry friends that need a home.

"We have staff coming in that aren't on the clock that are like, 'What can I do? What can I do to help?' We had, I mean, our phones were blowing up last night," Mouroukas said.

"Put an application in, come and find your forever friend," Cavka said.